The Toronto Blue Jays signed all seven players before arbitration

Thursday was the arbitration deadline, while it was technically 1:00 PM EST, it’s a soft deadline and teams don’t file arbitration numbers until about 8:00 PM EST the same day. The Blue Jays avoided arbitration with all available players. They are:
Zach Pop: one-year, $900,000
Nick Sandlin: one-year $1.63 million
Daulton Varsho: one-year, $8.2 million
Alek Manoah: one-year, $2.2 million
Ernie Clement: one-year, $1.975 million
Alejandro Kirk: one-year, $4.6 million
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: one-year, $28.5 million
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays have settled on a $28.5 million deal for 2025, per source, avoiding arbitration.
&mdash; Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) <a href="https://twitter.com/Feinsand/status/1877511357832081656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Guerrero Jr. is obviously the player most fans were concerned about. It came down to the wire, as there was just over half an hour before the two parties filed their arbitration numbers to the front office. Of course, it&#8217;s well-documented that the Jays and Guerrero Jr. went to arbitration last season, with the arbitrator ruling in Guerrero Jr.&#8217;s favour.
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The first baseman&#8217;s $28.5 million arbitration deal is the third-highest for any player available for arbitration, edging out Mookie Betts ($27 million) and Nolan Aernado ($26 million), while his deal fell short of Juan Soto&#8217;s $31 million deal and Shohei Ohtani&#8217;s $30 million deal. Ironically, both Soto and Ohtani signed with a different team after reaching free agency a year later.
That means that the Jays really need to show some urgency in extending their superstar. <a href="https://twitter.com/AbriendoSports/status/1870865199781282019">He&#8217;s stated on a recent podcast</a> that he wants to stay in Toronto and he has given the Jays until the start of Spring Training to get a deal done. If they can&#8217;t, and they&#8217;re reportedly $100 million off according to USA Today&#8217;s Bob Nightengale, he&#8217;ll test free agency.
Altogether, the Jays added just over $48 million to their budget with these seven signings. They actually saved a minuscule amount of money (well, in terms of a baseball team) if you&#8217;re looking at MLB Trade Rumors&#8217; projection article, which had these seven players combining for $48.1 million. They saved $95,000 million from the projection.
With Guerrero Jr.&#8217;s future determined for the 2025 season, hopefully the Jays can add around him (Anthony Santander and Pete Alonso please), and get a long-term deal for their superstar done before Spring Training starts.
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As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.
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Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gets ready in the dugout before the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium

The Toronto Blue Jays signed all seven players before arbitration



Thursday was the arbitration deadline, while it was technically 1:00 PM EST, it’s a soft deadline and teams don’t file arbitration numbers until about 8:00 PM EST the same day. The Blue Jays avoided arbitration with all available players. They are:

Zach Pop: one-year, $900,000

Nick Sandlin: one-year $1.63 million

Daulton Varsho: one-year, $8.2 million

Alek Manoah: one-year, $2.2 million

Ernie Clement: one-year, $1.975 million

Alejandro Kirk: one-year, $4.6 million

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: one-year, $28.5 million

https://twitter.com/Feinsand/status/1877511357832081656

Guerrero Jr. is obviously the player most fans were concerned about. It came down to the wire, as there was just over half an hour before the two parties filed their arbitration numbers to the front office. Of course, it's well-documented that the Jays and Guerrero Jr. went to arbitration last season, with the arbitrator ruling in Guerrero Jr.'s favour.
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The first baseman's $28.5 million arbitration deal is the third-highest for any player available for arbitration, edging out Mookie Betts ($27 million) and Nolan Aernado ($26 million), while his deal fell short of Juan Soto's $31 million deal and Shohei Ohtani's $30 million deal. Ironically, both Soto and Ohtani signed with a different team after reaching free agency a year later.

That means that the Jays really need to show some urgency in extending their superstar. <a href="https://twitter.com/AbriendoSports/status/1870865199781282019">He's stated on a recent podcast</a> that he wants to stay in Toronto and he has given the Jays until the start of Spring Training to get a deal done. If they can't, and they're reportedly $100 million off according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, he'll test free agency.

Altogether, the Jays added just over $48 million to their budget with these seven signings. They actually saved a minuscule amount of money (well, in terms of a baseball team) if you're looking at MLB Trade Rumors' projection article, which had these seven players combining for $48.1 million. They saved $95,000 million from the projection.

With Guerrero Jr.'s future determined for the 2025 season, hopefully the Jays can add around him (Anthony Santander and Pete Alonso please), and get a long-term deal for their superstar done before Spring Training starts.

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As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

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Blue Jays avoid arbitration with all seven available players, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

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